Mahankali's victory in the 86th Spelling bee nets him $30,000 in cash and prizes along with a huge, cup-shaped trophy.

As Scott reported earlier, this year contestants not only had to spell the words, they also had to define them in the preliminary rounds. Writing on the Monkey See blog, NPR's Linda Holmes welcomed that development.

"Indian-American spelling successes have also been fueled in recent years by the South Asian-only farm leagues that have popped up," she said. "Those tournaments act as a kind of breeding ground, where many Indian versions of the "tiger mom" start their kids as young as 6 years old."

"Former spellers tend to lead successful professional lives, says James Maguire, who tracked years of national spellers for his book, American Bee: The National Spelling Bee and the Culture of Word Nerds. 'Whatever the menu of things they're going to do, that skill of single-minded focus is going to help them. Not only can they do that -- they can do it under pressure.'

"Maguire says almost all the former spelling bee kids wind up winning 'at life,' though not necessarily with careers working with words. More than half a dozen former champs from the past two decades excelled in math and science and went on to become physicians."

The Associated Press reports on Thursday's contest: "The eleven finalists advanced from a field of 281 contenders based on a combination of a performance onstage and their performance on a computerized spelling and vocabulary test."